Sara and Ashkan are such a great couple and were great sports about being photographed in the rain. We had a wonderful time and got some awesome Engagement Portraits at Hermann Park and near Downtown Houston! Be sure to read the Q&A below to learn more about them!

It rained just long enough to get these shots!

I love the hearts! <3

Q. Where did you meet?
A. We met in Organic chemistry class at University of Houston.

Q. What was your first impression of him?
A. I did not like him at all and was not interested in dating him. I thought he was very arrogant and a snob. Which are common qualities in a Persian guy. When I found out he was Persian I for sure did not want to date him. I had no idea before we started dating that he had a crush on me the whole time.

Q. What was your first impression of her?
A. She’s so quiet and oblivious.

Q. What did you do for your first date?
A. The first date was a trick date. Sara thought a group from class was going to the science museum to see the Body Worlds Exhibit. When Sara got there only Ashkan was there.

Q. When did you know he was the one?
A. The year he went to Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

Q. When did you know she was the one?
A. The day I was sick and she drove all the way to my house and brought me gatorade and tylenol and cleaned up my vomit.

Q. How did he pop the question?
A. We were on vacation in Chicago for Lollapalooza and our first night there he wanted to go to the Sears Tower. He set off the security alarm because he had the ring in his pocket but security still let him go through. When we get to the top and are looking out at the city he proposes.

Q. What do you love the most about him?
A. The fact that he is so intelligent is a blessing and curse but I also like the fact that he never leaves his family out in cold even if they are wrong or drive him crazy.

Q. What do you love most about her?
A. That she likes to go places and even though she’s quiet she still has an outgoing personality.

Q. Does he have any funny quirks?
A. The way he talks and laughs.

Q. Does she have any funny quirks?
A. She has a funny stare when she’s mad.

Q. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced together?
A. School has kept us really busy and apart the majority of the time. We’ve also had to face his parents divorce and my grandparents deaths.

Q. What’s the secret to your happy relationship?
A. Always talking to each other even when we are fighting. Keeping each other in the known even if we can only talk by texting.

My older brother Chris recently got engaged to his girlfriend Michelle. Her family threw an engagement party so Joel and I flew up to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to celebrate with them. We had never been there before and we were excited to see the historical part of the city, go on trains/subways and eat authentic Philly Cheese Steaks (Joel can’t eat wheat, so he wasn’t able to have one.) When we arrived in Philadelphia Michelle drove by the Ben Franklin Bridge and I knew I wanted to shoot portraits there at night because I loved how the bridge was lit up.

While in town Michelle gave us a tour and we took a few portraits of her and Chris. I love the skylines of different cities and I had to get a portrait of them in front of the Philadelphia skyline. That night we got together and went to the Ben Franklin Bridge to do an engagement session.The night air was much chiller then in Houston. The low for the night was 58 degrees which was a very nice change from sweltering Houston. After going to the Ben Franklin Bridge we stopped by Penn Treaty Park to shoot more portraits. I was really happy to be able to capture these memories for my brother and Michelle. I hope you enjoy their engagement portraits.

I can’t tell you how much fun we had on this engagement session! Heather and EJ were totally adorable during the entire shoot and were naturals in front of the camera! They had the idea of shooting at Kemah Boardwalk and the beach in Galveston, TX. They chose those two locations because their second date was at Kemah Boardwalk (read about their first date in the survey below) and they are self described beach bums. Both these locations were perfect to show off who they really are. After the session I sent them a survey to find out more about each of them and their relationship. You can read the survey and view the slideshow at the bottom of the post. Or view the Engagement slide show in its own window here. Leave a comment to tell me what you think. Thanks!

Where did you meet?
We met through Match.com. EJ “winked” at me through the website, and I “winked” back. From there, we exchanged emails and talked on the phone and webcam for about a month before we finally met in person.

What was your first impression of him?

I have two first impressions on EJ: the first was his profile on Match and the second was the first time I met him in person. One of the main things I remember from his profile was a picture he’d taken of himself using his webcam on his laptop. He had a goofy grin on his face, and he put a border around it. The border was pink and it made the shape of a heart around his face. I thought to myself, “This guy definitely doesn’t take himself seriously,” which made me laugh.

The first time I met EJ in person, he looked like he was going golfing, but we were going to the movies. I appreciated that he put the effort into looking nice for our date though. He also shaved his face right before our date and managed to cut himself pretty badly on his cheek. So, he had a huge band-aid too. Luckily, he wore a t-shirt, shorts, and Converse shoes on our second date, and I was sold.

What was your first impression of her?
When I walked up to meet her for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. She was prettier than her pictures conveyed. She had very nice eyes.

What did you do for your first date?

For our first date, we went to the movies. We saw this terrible movie called Obsession. Beyonce was the starring actress if that tells you anything. We couldn’t really talk during the date, which wasn’t any good, and we didn’t go anywhere else after the movie, but we went on a second date not too long after.

When did you know he was the one?
There wasn’t one specific event that let me know he was the one, but I bought a house about a year into our relationship. I made sure to get EJ’s opinion of the house before I bought it because I knew we’d be living there together in the future.When did you know she was the one?
I knew after about a year. We had very few disagreements. I decided to wait until two years though just to make sure nothing unpleasant reared its ugly head.

How did he pop the question?
It was our first night in St. Lucia, and we’d been traveling all day. After spending some time on the beach and having dinner, we decided to return back to our room early. We had our balcony doors open, and you could hear Reggae music from the main pavilion at the resort. In the glow of the TV, EJ got on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was the night before our 2 year anniversary.

What do you love the most about him?

I love EJ’s sense of humor. He loves to laugh, and he loves to make the people around him laugh. Also, he’s very caring and considerate. One time I came home to flowers on my nightstand just because. It wasn’t a special occasion or anything.

What do you love most about her?

I love her ability to be empathetic. I love how caring she is.

Does he have any funny quirks?

EJ and his brother both like to randomly make noises and clap really loud. Also, he makes up songs that normally deal with gross boy things, but I think they’re funny.

Does she have any funny quirks?

Heather can fall asleep anywhere.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced together?

We haven’t really faced any challenges. I was laid off in the beginning of August, but it’s been going really smooth. I think the biggest challenge we’ll face is trying to find room in my closet for his stuff!

What’s the secret to your happy relationship?

We’re attentive to each other. We always greet each other with a kiss, eat dinner together, and spend as much time with each other as we can. We also ask each other how our day went, and we spend lots of time laughing!

I love living in Houston, TX because there is a lot to do here. We have some of the best entertainment from great restaurants that serve almost every kind of food to great venues with cool local music. I also believe we have some of the best museums in thousands of miles. (Some would say that I’m being bias.) Now I know the Smithsonian will top just about everything else but Google says that is about 1,400 miles away.One of my favorite museums that we have here in Houston is The Houston Museum of Natural Science. I’ve been going there since I was in elementary school and I never get sick of it.

Angela and Lubin had the idea of going to the Butterfly Center at the Museum of Natural Science which I thought was an awesome idea! It was nice to go back to this exhibit because I haven’t been there in forever. We got to see some beautiful butterflies and got some awesome portraits for them. After that we went across the street to the amphitheater in Hermann Park and got photos of them dancing on the stage. I hope you enjoy!

We did this session in Houston’s Hermann Park when it was cold outside. We were hoping for snow that day but didn’t get it. After shooting in the cold we went to the Chocolate Bar to warm up. In the end we still had a great time and got awesome portraits!